I behalf of the Clark County Commission we would like to present you with this
proclamation recognizing your work with this project the entire Board of County
Commissioners honored the organizers of an extraordinary international art crusade
the anniversary of one October is
a time to reflect and remember and artists from around the globe express their love
and talents on canvas crosses jewels and displays Courtney and I created the Las
Vegas portraits project in the early days following the want to attack we were just
coming off the heels of
a similar project honoring those who perished in the Orlando night club attack and
I was grieving the rather Southern loss of my father we immediately wanted to help
the improbable Las Vegas portrait display was conceived and spearheaded by two
women Elena Bravo and her cousin Courtney who are thousands of miles away in
Nazareth Pennsylvania when the one October attack darkened our city that two
artists put out
a Facebook call for other artists searching for talented volunteers to create
masterpieces of the deceased their assignments draw and paint portraits of the
fifty eight lives lost I'm
a stay at home mom but I do social media and so we largely based our organization
on
a social media page and created an e-mail account an application process and I hunted
down some good artists online and asked some talented family members. Out to the
local news station in my community and got quite
a few artists that way and then before I knew it we were getting artists from other
countries when I look at this portrait it's right behind me here. I see that
American flag and I think about those last moments with him at Route ninety one and
I'll never forget that I have chills just talking about it right now California
visitor Mary Jo Vaughn Tylo and her family were in attendance at the route ninety
one festival last year and my husband Kurt Montell who was one of the fifty eight
that died on that night on October first we were there with her family enjoying the
route ninety one concert my daughter my son in law Kurt sister our niece three out
of six of us were shot that night my family has really struggled since that night
our recovery is ongoing
a big part of our healing though has been the outreach for so many people around
the world including Ellen in the Las Vegas Portrait Project this was so touching
for our family and to see these fifty eight angels on the wall behind me just all
together is so empowering another part of the profoundly emotional exhibit is
a display of crosses you may recall an Illinois man Greg Xanthus constructed and
delivered the fifty eight memorials to Las Vegas last year within days there
appeared among us
a carpenter from Aurora Illinois named Greg Zahn us he drove across the country
with
a truck full of white crosses and when he arrived he parked by our economy welcome
sign Welcome to Las Vegas sign and police officers and even family members of the
victims helped him on load is
a gift to our community that crosses work later on display at the Clark County
Museum and will remain as part of the museum's permanent collection astute
observers will notice that only fifty three crosses are shown
a handful of families requested and received the wooden symbols that bear the names
of their loved ones the Evil inflicted by one individual was met with an amazing
amount of love and goodwill from around the world. In the aftermath of the shooting
and over the last year we have continued to be inspired by the countless examples
of humanity at its best we truly are Vegas stronger the organizers and the
artists will offer the families the portraits after the show closes on October
nineteenth until then the Clark County Government Center welcomes the public to
view this important show that government center is open from seven am to five pm
Monday through Friday.